Man fined for lying on FB about riot, but Penang Khaw not fined for lying about HDB?

[Sammyboy RSS Feed]

An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

So, a man got fined for putting a false claim on his FB. I mean how many people actually read his FB? But Penang Cow lie to 5 million people, by claiming we own our flats, but he is not fined? Very strange.
.
Man fined $5,000 for false Little India Riot posting on Facebook


A 28-year-old man was fined $5,000 on Thursday for a post on Facebook that falsely claimed three police officers and two civil defence officers died in last year’s Little India riot.

According to court documents, Desmond Lum Mun Hui posted a text status to his Facebook page on the morning after 8 December, the night the riot happened, that read, “Yesterday riot cause 3 spf and 2 cd dead.. all nsf.. haiz.. Sg..”, knowing that it was false. Here, “spf” refers to the Singapore Police Force and “cd” refers to Civil Defence, short for the Singapore Civil Defence Force. The term “nsf” is also short for full-time National Servicemen.

When his post attracted comments expressing disbelief, Lum continued to substantiate what he said by posting in follow-up comments, “Yup..not publish news [sic]” and “My fren [sic] on duty that night”. These comments, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Jason Nim, indicated that Lum had heard the news from his friend who was on duty on the night of the riot, and that the news was yet unpublished.

A day later, another Facebook user came across Lum’s fabricated post and lodged a police report against him. Lum was then charged in court for transmitting a false message under the Telecommunications Act.

In seeking a high fine for Lum’s act, DPP Nim said the former acted “out of a misguided and immature desire to attract attention on a social media platform”. “The offender was at most reckless as to the potential mischievous consequences,” he added.

In sentencing, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim reportedly noted the fact that Lum is a first-time offender who pleaded guilty at the first possible opportunity. In a report from The Straits Times, she added that the fine imposed cannot be a mere slap on the wrist.

For his misleading Facebook status, Lum could have been fined a maximum of $10,000 or jailed for up to three years or both.


From Penang Cow:


We enabled this transformation through several important housing policy changes over the decades. I thought it useful to recount the key milestones. In 1971, we allowed HDB flats to be resold for a profit. Before that, flats could only be sold back to HDB at very low pre-determined prices. In 1989, we allowed flat owners to retain their HDB flats even when they buy a private property. Before that, they would have to sell off their HDB flats. In 1993, we allowed buyers to take loans based on the prevailing market value of the flat, which allowed sellers to maximise the value of their assets. Before that, housing loans were based on HDB’s historical selling prices. In 2003, we allowed flat owners to sublet their flats. Before that, the underlying principle was strict owner-occupation. These policy changes have benefitted many Singaporeans. Many were able to upgrade their homes, and dramatically improved their quality of life. It has also allowed many to accumulate large nest eggs, to fund their retirement needs.


Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.